MULTIBIOLOGICAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM EXPERIMENTS WITH HUMANS PARTIALLY INVOLVED

© HongLiu, LingTong, MingLi, DaweiHu, YumingFu, WentingHe, EnzhuHu
© Государственный музей истории космонавтики им. К.Э. Циолковского, г. Калуга
Секция "К.Э. Циолковский и проблемы космической медицины и биологии"
2010 г.

To establish bioregenerative life support system in lunar or mars bases in the future, manned stimulation experiments including several kinds of creatures are needed to be conducted first. Gas exchange relation, element transfer and transformation principles, etc. between human beings and the multibiological system composed of plants, animals, Chlorella vulgaris and so on must be investigated in order to place different organisms with appropriate numbers and proportions. This research cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and silkworm (Bombyx Mori L.) in the Closed Integrative Cultivating System (CICS) of the Integrative Experimental System (IES) with Chlorella vulgaris cultivated in the Plate Photo Bioreactor (PPB) of the IES. Gas exchange between testers and the IES were conducted periodically. The automotive control system of the PPB changed the illumination intensity of the photo bioreactor according to the CO2 concentration in the IES to make CO2 in the system be maintained at desirable levels by regulating the photosynthesis of alga. The conveyor-type cultivation method which was harvesting the biggest batch of lettuce and silkworms through the mass exchange chamber of the IES and transferring the smallest batch of lettuce and silkworms into the system every four days; carrying certain amount of alga liquid out of the bioreactor with nutrient liquid replenished into the system was implemented every day. In terms of gas circulation, CO2/O2 concentration changes in the system with trace gas contaminants (CH4, NH3 and C2H4) were measured. As to the mass transfer and transformation, element (C, H, O, N) contents, height, crown width and biomasses of lettuce in different developing stages, silkworms’ bioconversion rates, alga’s biomass changes, the amount and distribution of the microorganism in different positions of the system, the quality of condensates gained under different running conditions and so on were studied. Results showed that this simulated multibiological life support system could meet 50% of human requirement toward O2; CO2 concentrations in the system could be maintained at desirable level by the automotive control system. Lettuce, silkworms and alga grew well; the number of microorganism increased a little after CICS and PPB were connected with each other and didn’t change profoundly after silkworms were introduced into the system; the quality of condensates were relatively good and could be used as potable water after further purification and mineral supplement; the trace gas contaminants in the system fluctuated around certain levels.